Sis:

Lewiston is only an hour's drive from my city (Bangor).

It is rather unfortunate that this crisis has brought a very dark cloud that
would just not go away!

Just before their arrival in Maine about two years ago, the Maine Municipal
Association (the organization consisting of Directors from all the "welfare"
agencies --including my employer, Bangor Health & Welfare), organized
workshops to educate Lewiston residents about Somali culture, etc...
Everything seemed fine at the time but when the refugees arrived and
Lewiston's welfare-based organizations started disbursing funds to the
Somalis, all hell broke lose!  The argument coming from those resistant to
the Somali presence is that it is unfair to deplete the City's welfare budget
by supporting "outsiders" with housing, food, and other basic necessities,
thus depriving municipal tax payers the chance to access services.  However,
this argument is baseless because the State of Maine Welfare Statute mandates
each municipality to provide assistance to residents in need of help with
housing, food, etc.  The State also reimburses them for every penny spent!

The selected few who invited the white supremacists, however, never
anticipated the counter fight that would arise from their planned
demonstrations: The Penobscot Indian Nation (Maine's most prominent Native
American tribe), in collaboration with the NAACP (Maine Chapter), will be
descending onto the ignorant hoodlums this Saturday by holding their own
demonstrations!!  Mr. Barry Dana (one of the leaders of PIN), in a TV
interview on Tuesday, passionately expressed disgust over the City of
Lewiston's inability to welcome and protect innocent people who have come to
do no harm but rather live the American dream -- just like the ancestors of
the same people who are trying to chase them out of the city.
Coincidentally, Maine's new Governor -- John Baldacci, during his inaugural
speech last evening, echoed the same sentiments by reminding us that his
family came to the U.S. as Italian Immigrants looking to better their lives,
and the Somalis have every right to enjoy the same privileges!

Over the years, the City of Portland has successfully resettled refugees from
Somalia, Sudan, and Cameron (to name a few) through Catholic Charities Maine
Refugee Resettlement Program.  Of course there was some resistance at the
beginning, but it is amazing how culturally diverse that city has become.
Portland is also Maine's largest city.

It is rather unfortunate that this peaceful New England State, because of the
ignorance of a selected few, is being subjected to bad publicity like this.
Let's just hope and pray that the rogues would not bring harm to anyone.

Regards,

Awa



In a message dated 1/8/2003 10:05:23 PM Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> Hi Sis,
>
> I see this is in your neck of the woods.
>
> Love,
>
> Maikabir.
>
> http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/jan2003/main-j09.shtml
>
> US: Racist campaign against Somali immigrants in Maine
> By Peter Daniels
> 9 January 2003
> This article is available as a PDF leaflet to distribute
>
> Hundreds of people from throughout the state of Maine are expected to
> protest a January 11 rally that has been scheduled in Lewiston, the state's
> second largest city, by a white supremacist group calling itself the World
> Church of the Creator.
>
> The racist group, which is based in East Peoria, Illinois and claims to be
> the fastest-growing white supremacist organization in the US, is calling
> for the expulsion of all Somalis from the Lewiston area. More than 1,000
> Somali refugees have settled in the city over the last two years.
>
> Fleeing civil war and economic and political chaos in their home country,
> the Somalis have come to Maine by way of Kenya, where they were placed in
> refugee camps. They began immigrating to the US in the mid-1990s, many
> settling in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Unhappy with conditions there, they
> sought a smaller community. The first Somalis arrived in Lewiston in
> February 2001. There are now over 400 Somali adults in the city, and the
> Somali population, including children, may be as high as 1,500, a little
> more than 4 percent of city's 36,000 inhabitants.
>
>

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